So who COULD we get if not Heupel?

[molsen81]

Gruden at $14 mil a year. That's what he wants. Sign the check.

 

[SaintLouisVol]

Gruden at $14 mil a year. That's what he wants. Sign the check.

A 62 year old, lifetime .500 coach that hasn't fielded a winning season team in 17 years. Perhaps you are kidding, but the number here who think you are not kidding is way too high.

 

[Cobb-Webb 1989]

Gruden at $14 mil a year. That's what he wants. Sign the check.

Soon...

 

[GVF]

Fans who do not understand the landscape of college football or where Tennessee sits would never understand your question.

Truth is, Heupel has been coaching at a level above the talent we have had since he has been here. Tennessee was hit with recruiting violations and is just now hitting theor stride in recruiting. As we have seen with the defense this year, while there is talent, we are thin. We are stacking the talent.

But at Tennessee, even with NIL, we are a tier behind the upper echelon of college football. Tennessee doesn't have the recruiting hotbed that other states have access to.

This is big, and not many on VN get this. UT has 36 SEC level instate recruits on roster. UGA has over 70 instate players. GT pulls another 68 into D1/ACC. Then you got GT pulling from the state too. UF has around 67-70 instate players and has to battle FSU and Miami for them. We have to live off going into everyone elses backyard to find players. So among just UGA/UF/GT, there's around 200 P4 players. From among them you have to try and get the ones willing to leave the state and are competing against the other schools in the same boat as us. And this doesn't include the ones willing to leave the Carolinas when you factor in how many players stay home to play P4 football at Bama, AU, USCe, Clemson and the NC schools. North Carolina alone has four P4 programs. TN sits in a hard place to expect 10-2 or better teams every single year. That's not gonna happen even with the best of recruiters on staff. If one is able to digest just how hard CJH's and staffs jobs are getting players to Rocky Top, one would understand just how well we have competed since his arrival.

When it was Fulmer TN produced even less SEC level HS players. But, he kinda had zones he recruited heavily depending on the position and they worked them hard. I recall quite a few linemen during his time come out of the midwest and NJ, etc.

 

[Carp]

It wasn't hard for Fulmer to recruit 5* guys to TN. It's definitely not hard to recruit high level players to TN, but you've gotta have good recruiters and Coach's that can develop. We have neither.

You don't live in reality if you think it's just as easy now to recruit 5* players as it was in the 90s when the only consistently great SEC programs were UT and UF.

 

[sonofUT62]

Fans who do not understand the landscape of college football or where Tennessee sits would never understand your question.

Truth is, Heupel has been coaching at a level above the talent we have had since he has been here. Tennessee was hit with recruiting violations and is just now hitting theor stride in recruiting. As we have seen with the defense this year, while there is talent, we are thin. We are stacking the talent.

But at Tennessee, even with NIL, we are a tier behind the upper echelon of college football. Tennessee doesn't have the recruiting hotbed that other states have access to.

We aren’t a well coached or even remotely disciplined team. I don’t know if we could find a better coach than JH at this point,but none of our issues are related to scholarship reductions.

 

[vavolfan6]

Saban walked into a dumpster fire and got the #1 recruiting class right off the bat. Both him and Smart started winning in recruiting before they did on the field.

Today's game makes it a little more challenging to do that.

Exactly, which helps make my point. You really have to prove your value as a coach and ability to squeeze talent out of players in order to get them to come to your school. Heupel has slowly been building and showcasing his offense to where he is able to get more and more highly rated recruits.

 

[sonofUT62]

This is big, and not many on VN get this. UT has 36 SEC level instate recruits on roster. UGA has over 70 instate players. GT pulls another 68 into D1/ACC. Then you got GT pulling from the state too. UF has around 67-70 instate players and has to battle FSU and Miami for them. We have to live off going into everyone elses backyard to find players. So among just UGA/UF/GT, there's around 200 P4 players. From among them you have to try and get the ones willing to leave the state and are competing against the other schools in the same boat as us. And this doesn't include the ones willing to leave the Carolinas when you factor in how many players stay home to play P4 football at Bama, AU, USCe, Clemson and the NC schools. North Carolina alone has four P4 programs. TN sits in a hard place to expect 10-2 or better teams every single year. That's not gonna happen even with the best of recruiters on staff. If one is able to digest just how hard CJH's and staffs jobs are getting players to Rocky Top, one would understand just how well we have competed since his arrival.

When it was Fulmer TN produced even less SEC level HS players. But, he kinda had zones he recruited heavily depending on the position and they worked them hard. I recall quite a few linemen during his time come out of the midwest and NJ, etc.

Ok now do Mississippi recruits. Indiana has a recruiting budget that’s probably 1/3 of ours and they would whip our asses. There comes a point when you just stop making excuses.

 

[sonofUT62]

You don't live in reality if you think it's just as easy now to recruit 5* players as it was in the 90s when the only consistently great SEC programs were UT and UF.

I would be fine if we taught the players that we have the basic fundamentals of tackling and not jumping offsides. Bonus points for being able to make a FG outside of 20 yards.!

 

[vavolfan6]

We aren’t a well coached or even remotely disciplined team. I don’t know if we could find a better coach than JH at this point,but none of our issues are related to scholarship reductions.

Look at our lack of upper classmen and players that have been here 4+ years. That is largely due to not having highly ranked classes in 2021 and 2022 when we were dealing with scholarship reductions, etc.

2023 was the first real top 10-15 class we had. It is Upperclassmen who have been developed are part of the program for years that help set the standard and expectations within the team.

 

[GVF]

Ok now do Mississippi recruits. Indiana has a recruiting budget that’s probably 1/3 of ours and they would whip our asses. There comes a point when you just stop making excuses.

I'm not making excuses. UM and State bout the same as UT roster wise for instate players. Kiffin raids LA a good bit and then TX. My point is people don't get how hard it is to recruit to a school that has little instate P4 players. UT might be a great HC job, but when it comes to recruiting it's a bear. The fact that CJH has won what he has here is more impressive than the complaints against him are viable.

 

[sonofUT62]

I'm not making excuses. UM and State bout the same as UT roster wise for instate players. Kiffin raids LA a good bit and then TX. My point is people don't get how hard it is to recruit to a school that has little instate P4 players. UT might be a great HC job, but when it comes to recruiting it's a bear. The fact that CJH has won what he has here is more impressive than the complaints against him are viable.

We are taking the number 1 player from 3 different states this year. Hes coaching below the talent level that he has. We had to go to OT with the second best team in Mississippi.

 

[GVF]

I would be fine if we taught the players that we have the basic fundamentals of tackling and not jumping offsides. Bonus points for being able to make a FG outside of 20 yards.!

Yeah, he's missed what 2 or 3 field goals this year. Because it's one or the other. Kid don't look like he's started shaving yet.

 

[sonofUT62]

Look at our lack of upper classmen and players that have been here 4+ years. That is largely due to not having highly ranked classes in 2021 and 2022 when we were dealing with scholarship reductions, etc.

2023 was the first real top 10-15 class we had. It is Upperclassmen who have been developed are part of the program for years that help set the standard and expectations within the team.

We have a worse defense than 2021 and the offense is probably about the same statistically as 2022 but undisciplined and mistake prone. The special teams have regressed.

 

[Cobb-Webb 1989]

I'm not making excuses. UM and State bout the same as UT roster wise for instate players. Kiffin raids LA a good bit and then TX. My point is people don't get how hard it is to recruit to a school that has little instate P4 players. UT might be a great HC job, but when it comes to recruiting it's a bear. The fact that CJH has won what he has here is more impressive than the complaints against him are viable.

We sure do not have a lock down in keeping our in state players.

 

[sonofUT62]

We are taking the number 1 player from 3 different states this year. Hes coaching below the talent level that he has. We had to go to OT with the second best team in Mississippi.

So if he was young and the spotlight was too big for him…is there a mechanism where we could have gotten someone else. Like the one where OU landed a guy who hit 3 50s in one game?

 

[GVF]

We are taking the number 1 player from 3 different states this year. Hes coaching below the talent level that he has. We had to go to OT with the second best team in Mississippi.

#1 from 3 different states on roster now as freshmen? Or season coming up and not on roster yet? Which means he's not coaching their talent yet cause he don't have them yet. Did you see how the two freshmen 18yo CB's played saturday? Was pretty darn good all things considered. I'd say they've been coached up. One of our best saturdays of the season at the DB level. I've not seen a horrible team in the SEC this year. Maybe KY. So, 14 other teams can be a real PITA pretty much every week. But, folks do have the option of changing teams to cheer for.

 

[GVF]

We sure do not have a lock down in keeping our in state players.

No. Probably another 30'ish or more SEC level talent slip away to Bama, Ole Mis, LSU. Seems the further west they are, the more likely they are to sign somewhere else. Then you have to factor in the portal each year. But, everyone else does as well. also seems to be a decent number around Nashville that get away too. Lot of talent around Nashville right now. The population is there to produce the players. We could do better there.

 

[sonofUT62]

#1 from 3 different states on roster now as freshmen? Or season coming up and not on roster yet? Which means he's not coaching their talent yet cause he don't have them yet. Did you see how the two freshmen 18yo CB's played saturday? Was pretty darn good all things considered. I'd say they've been coached up. One of our best saturdays of the season at the DB level. I've not seen a horrible team in the SEC this year. Maybe KY. So, 14 other teams can be a real PITA pretty much every week. But, folks do have the option of changing teams to cheer for.

Yes. I’m aggravated with the penalties/ poor tackling and the terrible STs play so I should cheer for a different team. How dare I expect the Maxims to be on display in the stadium named after the man who created them. My bad.

 

[vavolfan6]

Ok now do Mississippi recruits. Indiana has a recruiting budget that’s probably 1/3 of ours and they would whip our asses. There comes a point when you just stop making excuses.

Ole Miss gets all of it's players from the portal, but Lane has also done a great job and why he is in line to get the LSU or Florida job.

Indianna coach is not the norm on college football. It's why he just got paid to one of the highest contracts in college football becuase top programs were wanting to poach him.

Both these guys will be among the top 5 coaches in college football. The fact you are trying to compare Heupel to them shows how spoiled we are as a program. There are 120 other programs who would love to have Heupel as their coach.

 

[sonofUT62]

Ole Miss gets all of it's players from the portal, but Lane has also done a great job and why he is in line to get the LSU or Florida job.

Indianna coach is not the norm on college football. It's why he just got paid to one of the highest contracts in college football becuase top programs were wanting to poach him.

Both these guys will be among the top 5 coaches in college football. The fact you are trying to compare Heupel to them shows how spoiled we are as a program. There are 120 other programs who would love to have Heupel as their coach.

Cool. When those other 120 teams start generating 180 million in revenue per year then we’ll start talking. This team is underperforming based off of the level of investment poured into it.

 

[GVF]

Yes. I’m aggravated with the penalties/ poor tackling and the terrible STs play so I should cheer for a different team. How dare I expect the Maxims to be on display in the stadium named after the man who created them. My bad.

I'm aggravated too. But, I don't disparage 18 year old kids, nor the best in coaching we've had in 20 years. I woke up Sunday morning, and much to my expectations, the world was still happening.

 

[sonofUT62]

I'm aggravated too. But, I don't disparage 18 year old kids, nor the best in coaching we've had in 20 years. I woke up Sunday morning, and much to my expectations, the world was still happening.

Ok. Cool you do you. Trying to make others look like the bad guy for wanting better performance from 6 figure players and an 8 figure coach is a weird flex but I’m glad you had a great Sunday. I did as well. My life is separate from the sports messaging board.

 

[All-Vol]

I do not want to get back into the coaching carousel. I am not completely put this on Heupel, I think it has been difficult to recruit 5 star players to TN. QUESTION: Could you recruit a 5 star.

All that said, I'm still disappointed

List of 5-Star Recruits Who Signed and Enrolled at Tennessee Under Josh Heupel​

Josh Heupel became head coach in January 2021, so this covers signees from the 2021–2025 recruiting classes (2026 class signs in December 2025, after the current date). All players listed are consensus 5-stars per 247Sports Composite ratings, signed National Letters of Intent with Tennessee, and enrolled to play (no decommitments or flips). They have all appeared in at least one game for the Vols, confirming they "came and played."

Player Name	Recruiting Class	Position	National Rank (247Sports Composite)	Key Notes
Dylan Brooks	2021	DE/LB	No. 18	Played 3 games (4 tackles) before transferring out after 2021 season.
Terrence Lewis	2021	LB	No. 36	Played 4 games (2 tackles) before transferring out after 2021 season.
Nico Iamaleava	2023	QB	No. 4	Enrolled early; redshirted 2023, started 2024 (2,618 pass yds, 19 TDs); SEC Freshman of the Year; Heisman contender in 2025.
Jordan Ross	2024	EDGE	No. 17	Played in 6 games as true freshman in 2024 (3 tackles); emerging rotational player in 2025.
Mike Matthews	2024	WR	No. 31	Played in 5 games as true freshman in 2024 (2 catches, 18 yds); contributor in 2025.
David Sanders Jr.	2025	OT	No. 5	Enrolled early; true freshman starter at left tackle in 2025 (key in Vols' 8-1 start).

Notes:

• 2022 Class: No 5-star signees.
• Total: 6 players. Tennessee's 5-star hit rate under Heupel has been strong, with most contributing significantly (e.g., Iamaleava and Sanders as immediate impact players).
• Sources confirm all enrolled and played via game logs and depth charts from 247Sports and official Tennessee athletics records.

 

[GVF]

Cool. When those other 120 teams start generating 180 million in revenue per year then we’ll start talking. This team is underperforming based off of the level of investment poured into it.

Actually we are not underperforming at all this year. All pre-season predictions had UT at 8-4, 9-3. That went down when Nico left. Most of VN FF crazies were even saying 9-3 or 8-4. And they are all hte same ones mouthing off about being right where we were projected. Say what you will about CJH and recruiting, but he's only had full recruiting capabilties 3 of his 5 years here. And he has won far above real expectations thus far in light of that. We're pretty much sitting right where most people had us, and the 3 we dropped all could have been just as easily won. So, that's the frustrated part. But, not under performed. This is not the SEC I grew up with when you maybe had 4 big teams carrying the conference and proabably only played two of them. We've been fortunate this year to be deep on both lines. But, we are thin every where else and have had some critical season losses in key roles, so it's just as easy to argue we are playing above our resources all year. Lot of teams would have folded with the losses we've had.